Build from scratch...

We are in the era of entrepreneurship. Our generation is ready to break through the myriad of traditional career options to carve their own. While doing so, we face unprecedented challenges that our decade-old school and even the more recent university education failed to recognise. As a result, even though we learn through trial-error, sometimes the learnings are unnecessarily costly.

I have zero experience as an entrepreneur but I do have some consulting experience with new businesses. With some titbits from there and after observing and talking to select executives/owners of many start-ups, small/medium businesses and even large conglomerates, here are some key broad takeaways that can give you some sense of direction while building your dreams into reality:

1. Do your research - Remember PESTLE, SWOT and 4P? Well those things are important. May be you don't have to be as fixated on the structure and comprehensiveness like you did in your uni projects, but the concept is helpful and allows you to shape your understanding of the market landscape.
2. Understand the finances - While ideas help the business grow, a clear understanding of your financials can be the profit-lever. If needed, refer back to your good-old finance and accounting books and get cracking, you might just save some money on the way.
3. Have backup funds - Running a business is rewarding but is also full of uncertainties. Sometimes you are so close in achieving something but fall just short and need some quick funds to smooth things out. Your backup funds or sources can be real business-savers and be the maker/breaker.
4. Hire well - Don't save money when hiring people. You often lose more by hiring cheaper workforce than expensive efficient ones. You need a good balance of tenacious and just-do-it employees as well as experienced leaders / individuals that can set up processes and wings of the business that you are not an expert on.
5. Get honest advisors - This can be your business partner, employees, family, friends, industry experts and even competitors! It's very unlikely that whatever hardship you are going through is the first-time ever, so seek out people who might know a thing or two and prod you in the right direction. Having advisors doesn't mean you have to follow what they say but creating a process where their inputs can help you take thoughtful decisions is vital.
6. Hone your instinct muscle - Entrepreneurs end up doing things that cannot be justified by any natural logic or points covered above. Sometimes that gut feeling is what is needed to build a successful venture. However, you have to hone that instinctive muscle by incorporating your learnings from the bad experiences born out of such gut calls. As you religiously do it, your instinct becomes sharper as it broadens your horizon of thoughts and allows you to see things that are often obscure.
7. Do more, faster - When building a business, pace is key. You need to rapidly decide, execute and course-correct. Minutes often matter more than perfection. Also be wary of bureaucracy, it's the virus to look out for!
8. Think big - You are not building a company only, you are probably setting up an industry or setting up a new trend in an old industry or setting up your employee's life as he/she builds a future from his/her earnings. So it's important to see that bigger picture and sometimes focus more on collective good even if it is not helping you in the short-run. In many cases, the way you can increase your share of the pie is by stretching the pie itself rather than taking up someone else's pieces.

I don't claim that I have covered the most important tips above. I am sure that the experienced professionals and the entrepreneurs are in a better place to share further takeaways and also counter the ones above. I look forward to those constructive inputs in the comments section.

Ending with a quote I read somewhere:

“And may be between building and breaking we find our lives somewhere.

Building dreams, each time, watching them break and then picking the broken pieces,

building again with a new Hope more courage. ......And may be this effort is Life.”